In the final weeks of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has used misleading claims about the Biden administration's disaster response to Hurricane Helene in an attempt to portray Vice President Kamala Harris as failing in her duties.
Justine McDaniel and Marianne LeVine report for The Washington Post.
In short:
- Trump falsely claimed that FEMA disaster funds were used for migrants, despite no evidence to support this.
- He has a long history of spreading false information about natural disasters, from hurricanes to wildfires, to shift blame or bolster his image.
- Trump’s strategy is to politicize the storm response in battleground states like North Carolina ahead of the election.
Key quote:
“Getting politics out of disasters and emergency management is really critical. It’s dangerous, it doesn’t help, and it certainly makes the job of our disaster responders, our first responders, more difficult.”
— Tim Frazier, faculty director of the emergency and disaster management program at Georgetown University
Why this matters:
Misinformation during disaster response creates confusion, hinders relief efforts and risks public safety. As climate-related disasters increase, the politicization of emergency management could lead to slower or less effective help for those in need.
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